Base-ball catcher&#39;s mitt.



N0. 808,980. PATENTED JAN. 2, 1906. J. GAMBLE.

BASE BALL GATCHBRS MITT.

APPLICATION FILED APR.17, 1905' "o'NrT STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN GAMBLE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE A. REACH, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

BASE-BALL CATCHERS IVllTT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2, 1906.

' 1'0 all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN GAMBLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Base-Ball or Catchers Mitts, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in base-ball or catchers mitts, and more especially to the construction of the front or palm portion thereof, my object being to make the glove more durable and enable it to maintain its original shape.

I have illustrated the invention in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a face view; Fig. 2, a sectional view. Figs. 3 and 4 are views of the dies used.

In the drawings the numeral 4 designates the palm portion and 5 the back portion, hav ing the usual finger receiving part 6, by which the glove is held on the hand. The wall 7, which connects the front portion with the back, is made to lie substantially at right angles to the front and back and is joined to the back by the lacing 9, which enables the inner lining 10 to be removed and replaced in the ordinary and well-known manner. Heretofore the front portion has been out to the de sired size and shape, and an independent edge strip or flange, cut the desired width and length, has been stitched to the front or palm portion. In this. form of construction the continual impact of the ball breaks the stitching, especially between the angle at the thumb portion and finger portion,necessitat ing the use of a reinforce or gusset at this point to protect the stitching. According to my invention I form the palm portion and the edge portion of a single integral piece of leather, thus dispensing with the usual line of stitches connecting the edge and palm. In order to form this in a perfectly smooth manner, I place'the leather over a suitable male die or former 11 of the shape of the palm portion of the glove, having first dampened the leather, and then force over it a female die or former 12 of corresponding shape, which draws the dampened and soft and pliable leather smoothly down over the sides of the male former and into a position at right angles to the palm. The parts of the die are left in place until the leather has dried and set in place, when it will retain its shape long enough to enable it to be trimmed to the proper height and a reinforce or stay 7", of canvas, to be glued or otherwise secured on the inner face of the flange. It will thus be seen that there is no stitching connecting the palm and sides to rip and tear.

In the use of the ordinary catchers glove or mitt it has been found that the continual impact of the ball causes a depression to be formed in the padding or filling of the glove. As the material of the front or palm portion is not yielding or elastic enough to conform in shape, it presents a certain amount of tension under impact, causing the ball to rebound and also causing the material of the palm to break or tear. According to my invention I provide the male die or former with a circular projection 13 at the point where the pocket is formed, which stretches the palm material while moist over the point 14 of the female die and draws from the points 15 and 16, stretching the material tight along the flange and bringing a fullness in the front or palm at the point most needed. This provides sufficient material to rest on all arts of the pocket formed in the padding or 'lling and insures the retention of the ball in the pocket. I further form the flange narrower between the points indicated at 15 and 16 than on the remaining portion of the glove,

making the narrowest portion come at the apex of the space between the finger and thumb portions. This helps to make the depression or pocket permanent, the padding having been previously cut away or reduced at this point before placing it in the mitt.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. A base-ball mitt comprisinga palm portion and back portion, each having a thumb extension, an integral flangeextending rearwardly from the palm portion, lacing detachably connecting the flange with the back portion, a removable pad between the front and back portions, and a pocket formed in the front portion in close proximity to the thumb extension, substantially as described.

2. A base-ball mitt comprising a palm portion and a back portion, each having a thumb extension, an integral rearwardly-extending flange integral with said palm portion and i In testimony whereof I affix my signature narrowing in width between the thumb exin presence of two Witnesses. tension and body, lacing detaehably eon- JOHN GAMBLE neeting the rear edge of the flange with the '5 back portion, and a pocket formed at the Witnesses:

point where the said flange is of reduced EDWARD A. CLUNGEON, width, substantially as described. GEO. M. SMITH. 

